Defend Democracy, Attend No on Prop E and F Fundraiser

By Larry Bush, CitiReport.com founder & publisher.

October 12, 2011

“We must take our city back. This is about survival.”
— Ron Conway, Republican and $10,000 contributor to Proposition E to allow the Board of Supervisors to amend and repeal voter-approved laws.

Ron Conway made that statement last October before a business-friendly group at the Bay Area Council, according to the San Francisco Business Times. And according to that same paper, his call to “take our city back” was met with strong applause.

Proposition E would let downtown “take the city back” — even after the votes are counted. Under Proposition E, the Board could begin amending the law passed by voters after three years and after seven years could make the law disappear — just as if the voters never cast a ballot.

The Proposition E campaign, according to the latest campaign filing, is funded almost entirely by Ron Conway. We don’t need to guess why.

Proposition E has a twin sister — Proposition F.

It took a vote of the people to pass a law requiring campaign consultants to publicly confess who their clients are, how much they are paid, and to stop them from lobbying clients afterwards. Twice the Board of Supervisors passed a law to do that, and twice then-Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. vetoed it.

Now under Proposition F, that law could be amended into oblivion. Proposition F gives the city’s Ethics Commission the authority, along with the Board, to begin amending the law without going back to the voters. The Ethics Commission — called the Sleeping Watchdog by the Civil Grand Jury — could do just what it did with the lobbyist law, changing the definition so that all the major players in city politics can fall back into the shadows, out of public view. With the lobbyist law, Ethics and the Board voted a new definition that no longer requires even the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to disclose its efforts to influence City Hall. What do you think will happen when it comes to the Board’s decision affecting the very campaign consultants they rely on to get elected?

These measures are now opposed by mayoral candidates across the spectrum — from Jeff Adachi, John Avalos, Tony Hall, Phil Ting, Leland Yee, and by the Labor Council, San Francisco Democratic Party.

We formed a committee to oppose these two propositions, and now we’re appealing to you for your vote and asking if you can come to a fundraiser to help defeat Propositions E and F.

When: 6-8 p.m., October 13

Where: Buck Tavern, on Market Street at Octavia, 1655 Market Street.

Sliding scale donation at the door: $10 to $10,000. (Proponents received a $10,000 donation from far-right multi-millionaire Ron Conway!) No one turned away for lack of funds. Separate donation for drawing for a lunch with a political dignitary. Bring your checkbook or cash.

If you can’t make it to this event, please contribute to the campaign by mailing a donation to:

Friends of Ethics, Committee Opposed to Measures E & F
c/o Paul Melbostad, Treasurer
Goldstein, Gellman, Melbostad et al LLP
1388 Sutter Street, Suite 1000
San Francisco, CA 94109-5454
Please make checks payable to “Friends of Ethics, Committee Opposed to Measures E & F” and write our FPPC ID #, 1340788, on the memo line.

Learn more about the measures here and “Like” the page:
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofEthics

Thank you for taking the time to consider this appeal. I hope to see you there and to have your support in defeating Propositions E and F.

FCJ Editor

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